The writer exhorts his readers (and us) to attend to one’s heart. Having warned about the danger of drifting in chap 2, he now addresses the matter of hard hearts by way of examples from Israel’s history. He uses the familiar synagogue call to worship from Psalm 95 “Today if you hear his voice” to arrest our attention. He places his finger on a two-fold problem: rebellion against God and testing his patience in the face of his provision and patience.

History is a humbling exercise. By ignoring the mistakes of the past, we are prone to repeat them, just as the Israelites did. After 430 years of slavery in Egypt, God delivered them through Moses “by his mighty hand”. Pharaoh’s army was destroyed and the people had miraculously crossed the Red Sea. Having “plundered the Egyptians”, they had provisions and resources, a sign of God’s generous providence. And then the most amazing thing happened. As they entered the wilderness an immense pillar of cloud formed in the sky before them to lead the way and at sunset it transformed into a pillar of fire.